Public notice on restoring Internet Freedom

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the FCC's notice regarding potential net neutrality rulemaking and the implications of the "Restoring Internet Freedom" draft. Participants explore the classification of broadband internet, the role of ISPs in providing DNS services, and the public's engagement in the rulemaking process.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express concern that the FCC's arguments regarding network management activities, such as firewalling and IPV4 - IPV6 translation, are flawed and misrepresent the nature of internet communication.
  • There is a proposal that ISPs should not provide DNS services unless users have the option to choose alternative providers, likening ISPs to web browsers that should not interfere with user access.
  • Others argue that users can change their DNS settings independently of their ISPs, but note that most users do not do so due to default settings and lack of awareness.
  • One participant shares their experience using a custom firewall/router to redirect DNS requests to alternative servers, highlighting the potential for user control over DNS choices.
  • Another participant emphasizes that broadband internet should not be classified as an "information service," arguing that the management of internet access technologies should be independent of ISPs.
  • Some participants mention the lack of public engagement and awareness regarding the implications of net neutrality and the importance of submitting comments to the FCC.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views on the role of ISPs, the classification of broadband internet, and the public's understanding of DNS services. There is no consensus on the best approach to these issues, and multiple competing perspectives remain.

Contextual Notes

Participants note limitations in public understanding of DNS settings and the implications of ISP practices, as well as the potential for software solutions to enhance user choice. The discussion reflects varying levels of technical knowledge among users.

PeterDonis
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The FCC's notice regarding possible net neutrality rulemaking got posted the other day:

https://www.fcc.gov/document/public-notice-filing-comments-restoring-internet-freedom

It's every bit as bad as expected.

One thing we as citizens can do is submit "filings" on the FCC website. I submitted one here:

https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filing/10427019504580

I'm expecting the same organizations that mobilized against SOPA and PIPA (such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation) to do so again.
 
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From your 2nd link:

Paragraph 30 attempts to argue that network management activities such as firewalling and IPV4 - IPV6 translation constitute changing the information being transmitted.

That's a ridiculous argument. This is like arguing that the stamp they add to an envelope (the ink stamp that is done over the physical stamp to indicate it's been processed) constitutes a change to the letter inside.
 
Here' a link to the Restoring Internet Freedom public draft:
https://www.fcc.gov/document/restoring-internet-freedom

Good arguments Peter. I didn't get involved in the 2015 debate on classifying broadband internet as a telecommunications service for FCC regulation, but I will review the draft to see if I should post a comment opposing deregulation as well.

My first thought from reading your arguments is if providing DNS services gives ISPs leverage to call themselves service providers, then they should not be allowed to provide DNS services unless they give the users a choice of other providers, similar to how web browsers allow users to choose different search providers. An ISP should be like a web browser, just a tool for users to access content they want; it should not interfere or persuade them in what they access.
 
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stoomart said:
they should not be allowed to provide DNS services unless they give the users a choice of other providers

This is already possible, because the choice of DNS server is ultimately made by your computer, not your ISP. The problem is that, except for a few techies like me, nobody ever changes the default settings of their computer on how to choose its DNS server, which are to use whichever one is provided by your ISP. This is fixable with software, but since the DNS services provided by ISPs work, there hasn't been any impetus to provide such software in such a way that ordinary users could use it.
 
PeterDonis said:
This is already possible, because the choice of DNS server is ultimately made by your computer, not your ISP. The problem is that, except for a few techies like me, nobody ever changes the default settings of their computer on how to choose its DNS server, which are to use whichever one is provided by your ISP. This is fixable with software, but since the DNS services provided by ISPs work, there hasn't been any impetus to provide such software in such a way that ordinary users could use it.
Agreed. These default services and content filtering (like blocking outbound SMTP and sometimes DNS) are provided in the name of security, which I think should be provided as an 'add-on' product to the user. Choosing DNS providers could easily be done during router setup, which funny enough, are usually bundled with the modems the ISPs provide.

On my home network through Comcast, I use a custom firewall/router to redirect all outbound DNS client requests to the OpenDNS servers, which provide content and malware filtering.
At work, we restrict outbound DNS traffic to our internal DNS servers and perform security analytics on the logs; I presume ISPs perform similar analytics from their server logs for marketing/consumer behavior intelligence.
 
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Here's the text of my filing I submitted today, will update this post with the link when published.

Like all underlying internet access technologies, broadband internet, in its basic form of providing IP/IPv6 network communication to the internet, does not meet the criteria of being classified as an "information service" as defined in paragraph 26:

"the offering of a capability for generating, acTuiring (sic), storing, transforming, processing, retrieving, utilizing, or making available information via telecommunications, and includes electronic publishing, but does not include any use of any such capability for the management, control, or operation of a telecommunications system or the management of a telecommunications service."

All of these capabilities (DNS, DHCP, email, web, etc.) can and should be facilitated by the end-user client/router/firewall and internet servers independent of ISPs, whose involvement is only required during the initial line and IP address provisioning to the modem.​
 
I never got an email confirmation, but I found it by searching: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filing/105100105010210

Just a few comments so far:

IMG_0002.jpg
 
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I sent in my filing after watching John Oliver's show last Sunday!
 
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PeterDonis said:
This is already possible, because the choice of DNS server is ultimately made by your computer, not your ISP. The problem is that, except for a few techies like me, nobody ever changes the default settings of their computer on how to choose its DNS server, which are to use whichever one is provided by your ISP. This is fixable with software, but since the DNS services provided by ISPs work, there hasn't been any impetus to provide such software in such a way that ordinary users could use it.
What do you expect from a public that keeps saying things like " I like google/yahoo/etc., it's free"?
 

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